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It's all in a day's work: vehicle maintainers fight heat, combat cold

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Dennis L. Sloan
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Ever wonder how Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst's mission keeps rolling after several feet of snow bombards the flightline, streets and parking lots?

The 87th Logistics Readiness Squadron Vehicle Maintenance shops maintain a fleet of snow plows used by 87th Civil Engineer Squadron to clear the airfield and installation grounds.

"Once the snow hits the ground, we are here working on the vehicles so CE can plow the runway and streets of JB MDL," said Tech. Sgt. Christopher Cruz, 87th LRS Vehicle Maintenance assistant non-commissioned officer in charge.

The LRS maintenance shop has just started their "summer re-build" of all the snow plows and all the snow and ice removal vehicles.

Airman 1st Class Shelly Roy, 87th LRS Vehicle Maintenance apprentice, replaced old, warn hydraulic lines on the snow plow. The hydraulic lines provide power to the auger, the device that moves the snow from the roadways.

"We are currently doing oil changes, equipment replacement and an overall check of the snow plows," said Roy. "I take my job very seriously, because if we don't fix the plows correctly the first time, we ultimately bring the entire mission to a halt."

Roy is an apprentice working toward her journeyman status, or 5-level. Before she can obtain her journeyman status, she must first complete several tasks: replacing brakes, oil changes, perform diagnostic tests on vehicle transmissions, electrical systems and ignitions. After completion of her tasks she must then pass a written test. Once she becomes a 5-level, she will be ready to deploy and support servicemembers in the area of responsibility.

"I really enjoy my job, because I always find myself working on something new every day," said Roy. "I also work with great people and have yet to meet a mean mechanic."
The vehicle maintenance and management mission is to provide rapid, adaptive, global, fleet management and quality maintenance support for JB MDL. The Airmen and civilians in the shop also provide vehicle sustainment for 24-hour base operations.

However, maintaining all of these vehicles can come with problems and limitations.
"One of the biggest problems we run into is finding parts for 20-year-old vehicles," said Cruz. "We work with such a wide variety of vehicles and parts, ordering for all of them can get very hectic and time consuming."

Members of the vehicle maintenance shops don't just provide service to Air Force assets but also those of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps.

"We maintain the Humvees used for training on Dix," said Cruz. "We take care of the tractors the Navy uses in testing and producing catapult and recovery systems on aircraft carriers. We also maintain the vehicles that load and unload aircraft on the flightline."

This team maintains more than 2,000 vehicles a year for 64 different squadrons, and they do this with 30 to 40 percent of their personnel deployed. In total, the amount of equipment maintained by the shops is worth more than $130 million.